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IF your intruder is some kind of crack shot snooper, he's going to shoot you in your sleep. None of us can predict how a home invasion will go, which means it's likely to just be a shitshow on all sides, with panic and errors all around.
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All I know is that if it comes to hand-to-hand, I have no fight experience, but I was an offensive lineman for years and am not small. If he's a skinny tweaker piece of shit, I'm locking the front door and he's stuck in there with me. And my hammer and screwdriver are all I need. <-- delusion of grandeur, see
This is often correct. While burglaries and break-ins are on the rise in some places, they're not being committed by special ops teams with a plan and high-level execution. If they have a firearm, the uncertainty and panic makes them more dangerous to a resident, not less, although they might still suck at aiming a weapon. Same is true if the resident has a gun (or any weapon, I suppose). The situation is likely to spin more out of control, not settle down while the intruder realizes he's made a mistake and gets on the floor with his hands behind his back while somebody calls the cops. This is why the cops in my family and some who are friends have always drilled in me to never, ever produce a gun unless I am plan to use it with deadly intent.
While I agree with the principle, I realize I never committed to such a thing for much of my adult years and probably would not have pulled a gun on an intruder, even if it was the smart thing to do. Killing somebody is so abhorrent to me that I probably would've put myself in a bad situation unnecessarily. However, that's changed now that I'm married and also have a step-son still in the house. Somewhat unfortunately, I've come to terms with the fact that if somebody gets in my home that's not supposed to be there, I can't afford to ask questions or take chances. I'm going to do my best to kill them. The laws are "friendly" in that regard here in Texas (far as I know), although I'd probably want to throw up every minute of the rest of my life and hope to God I never have to do anything like that.
The last part, I guess that's how I looked at things when I was single. Oddly, while I didn't want to fire a gun at anybody, I always kept a good clubbing stick nearby and figured I had pretty good odds beating the hell out of somebody. I've seen a lot of reports of B-and-Es where the perps aren't armed at all or have a pocket knife or something. I'd have been pissing myself, but I kinda figured if I don't freeze up I'm in better shape than that guy.
